Tray-table



Dec. 8, 1964 A. BEDOL 3,160,121

TRAY-TABLE Filed March 22, 1963 INVENTOR. ALnN BEDOL ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,16%,121 TRAY-TABLE Alan Bedol, Shaker Heights, Ohio, assignor to Marshallan Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Uhio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Mar. 22, 1963, Ser. No. 267,173 1 Claim. (Cl. 108-157) This invention relates to tables and particularly to a dual purpose collapsible table.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a casual table for indoor and outdoor use as a lawn or patio table, or a handy TV or snack table.

Another object is to provide a table of the type stated whose top may be easily lifted from its supporting legs and used as a serving tray.

A further object is to provide a table having collapsible legs that may be stored separately from the table top, when not in use.

Still another object is to provide a collapsible sheet metal tray-table that is simple in construction, pleasing in appearance, easy to assemble, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and claim, together with the accompanying drawing, Wherein like parts are referred to and indicated by like reference numerals, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the collapsible tray-table, that is the subject of this invention, with a portion of the table top broken away to show the manner of seating the top on the supporting legs;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the leg assembly, showing the legs in their folded condition;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the leg assembly collar;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the leg assembly in its open position, as it appears when ready to receive the table top thereon; and,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the thermo-plastic collar showing it in a distorted, heated, condition necessary to permit the leg rivets to be set thereon.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is seen in FIGURE 1, the collapsible table that is the subject of the invention, broadly indicated by reference numeral 40.

The table 40 comprises two major components, namely, a circular top and a collapsible tripod 3Q, embodying means for supporting the top 10.

These two components may be joined to form the table 40, or separated and collapsed for compact storage, when not in use.

Furthermore, the top 10, itself, may be used as a serving tray, when not combined with the tripod 30.

The top 10 is circular in configuration, and is preferably stamped and formed from a blank of sheet metal, and may have a suitable decorative design imprinted thereon.

The formed top 10 has a continuous conveXo-concave channeled rim 11, proximate its peripheral edge and a dependent flange 12 at the outer edge of said rim.

The radius of the concave surface of the channel, or mounting groove 11, is such that the end caps, or feet 16, of the legs 13, 14 and 15, may be received therein in a snug fit, as seen in the broken away section of the top 10, in FIGURE 1.

The tripod comprises three tubular legs 13, 14 and 3,l%,l2l Patented Dec. 8, 1964 ice 15, having caps 16, at each end, which act as feet for the legs.

The legs 13, 14 and 15, are pivotally mounted, at their midpoints, in a thermo-plastic collar 20 through pivot pins 23, as is seen most clearly in FIGURE 4.

As seen in FIGURE 3, the thermo-plastic collar 20 is tri-angular in shape with three straight side walls 17, 18 and 19, joined through arcuate end sections 21 having a radial curvature corresponding to that of the tubular legs 13, 14 and 15.

Each side wall 17, 18 and 19, has a bore 22 centered therein, in which the pivot pins 23, which support the legs 13, 14 and 15, are riveted.

It will be evident from a study of FIGURE 4 that the three legs fit so snugly in the collar 20 that, while there is enough clearance for the riveting tools needed to anchor two of the legs in the collar, there is not enough clearance for the riveting anvil and hammer needed to clinch the rivet pin of the third leg. However, this problem is overcome by heating the thermoplastic collar 20 until it becomes soft enough to permit the third side to be bent outwardly, as shown in FIGURE 5, at approximately to its normally vertical plane, thereby obtaining clearance for the riveting tools. After the third pivot pin 23 is riveted in place the Wall is returned to its normal vertical position and permitted to cool and set in its original shape, illustrated in FIGURE 3.

The three legs are free to pivot on their mounting pins 23 between a first, or folded, position, as seen in FIGURE 2, wherein they are parallel to each other, and form a compact bundle; and a second, or open, position wherein they rest against the arcuate sections 21 of the collar 20, at acuate angles to each other, as seen in FIGURE 4.

The ends 16 of the so opened tripod legs 13, 14 and 15, are positioned apart, in a circular plane having the same diameter as that of the top mounting groove 11, and are adapted to seat in the groove 11 and support the top 10 in a horizontal plane, spaced upwardly from and parallel to the floor, in the manner illustrated in FIG- URE 1, to form the assembled table 40.

It will be noted that the legs 13, 14 and 15, have feet 16 at both ends thereof, so that it does not matter which end of the tripod 30 is placed on the floor, when the legs are in their open position. Furthermore, since the end sections 21 of the collar 20 have the same radial curvature as the tubular legs 13, 14 and 15, the legs will always rest against the curved sections 21 at the same angle, thereby assuring that the supporting upper ends of the legs will always come to rest in, and be aligned in a circular plane parallel to the floor.

Again, due to the fact that there is no mechanical connection between the legs 13, 14 and 15, and the top 19, the top 10 may be easily raised from the legs and used as a tray, when desired, and then, as easily, be replaced on the legs, to re-create the table structure 41 I claim:

A tray-table, comprising in combination, a circular tray having a peripheral convexo-concave channeled rim defining a continuous, downwardly faced, mounting groove therearound; a triangular thermo-plastic collar having three straight sides joined at their ends through arcuate sections; and, three tubular legs, having feet at both ends thereof, pivotally mounted at their mid-points within the collar, on the side walls thereof; the legs having radii substantially equal to that of the arcuate collar on the floor and the upper feet adapted to be seated in the tray mounting groove to support the tray in a horizontal plane, spaced upwardly from and parallel to the floor, in the manner of a table top.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Wade 248-164 X Harter l08-159 Miller 108-457 Phillips 108157 Pappas 108-157 Botnick 108-439 Berlin 211132 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

